The invention relates to a fuseholder having a fuse status indicator according to the precharacterizing clause of Patent claim 1. Such a fuseholder is known from DE 41 27 214.5 A1.
Electrical fuse assemblies having a fuseholder for insertion into a fuse housing are in widespread use. The fuse link or fuse, the actual protection element, is accommodated in the fuseholder such that it can be replaced. The fuseholder may, for example, be in the form disclosed in DE 34 06 815 A1, or the form disclosed in DE 37 41 743.6 A1. According to Application DE 197 34 234.5, the latter is preferably equipped with a coding tongue, which rests elastically against the foot contact of the fuse link.
A flashing status indicator according to DE 41 27 214.5 A1, which was mentioned above, is in each case fitted in the fuseholder. This status indicator comprises a glow lamp, which is arranged behind a window in the upper part of the fuseholder, and a small board in the vicinity of the glow lamp, with the electronic components such as capacitors, diodes and resistors required to actuate the glow lamp. The status indicator is electrically connected via connecting lines to the head contact and foot contact of the fuse link and, when the glow lamp flashes, this indicates whether the fuse link has been tripped and has blown.
In the past, the electrical connection between the head contact and foot contact of the fuse link and the board of the status indicator was produced by means of small pieces of wire, which were soldered at one end to the board and at the other end to the contact elements which are connected in the fuseholder to the head contact and foot contact of the fuse link.
This arrangement has the disadvantage that the steps for insertion of the pieces of wire into the fuseholder and their soldering during the production of the fuseholder can be carried out only manually. The production process is thus rather complex.
DE 35 13 833 C2 discloses a melting fuse link which has a high cylindrical insulating-material body, in the interior of which a melting conductor is provided between two contact caps arranged at the ends of the insulating body, with a series circuit comprising a high-value resistor and an optoelectronic display device being connected in parallel with the melting conductor. The high-value resistor may comprise an electrically conductive, high-resistance layer or an electrically conductive, high-resistance plastic insert, which extends from one contact cap to the other and rests against the inner surface of the hollow-cylindrical insulating-material body. This arrangement also has the disadvantage that the plastic insert must be inserted in and attached to the insulating-material body separately, although this can be done manually or automatically.
The invention is based on the object of refining the fuseholder with the built-in status indicator so that the production process is simple. In order to achieve this object, the invention provides a fuseholder having the features of claim 1, and a method for producing a fuseholder having the method steps of claim 7.
According to the invention, this object as stated in the patent claims is achieved in that the connecting lines for the status indicator are no longer composed of wire, but of a conductive plastic for which channels which have accurately predetermined dimensions are provided in the fuseholder, the rest of which is composed of insulating plastic.
The connecting lines for the status indicator can thus easily and quickly be configured by means of so-called two-component injection molding during the process of molding the plastic fuseholder.
The conductive plastic may make contact with the head contact and/or foot contact of the fuse link directly, or indirectly via the metallic connections for the fuse link in the fuseholder.